Easy to Make/freeze Recipes

My husband won't even try to cook. So with all three of my kids I cooked ahead and froze my meals. Try lasagna, baked mostacolli (thaw it then put the cheese on top & bake) meatballs (freeze them on a cookie sheet first then bag them),enchiladas, tuna casserole, smothered pork chops, lemon chicken, mini meatloaves, hamburgers. I have even made meatball sandwiches and frozen them, my hubby didn't complain and he is very picky if they were gross he would have said something, just wrap them in wax paper then tin foil. I also make up chicken tenders and freeze them on a sheet then bag them. Soup is always good to keep frozen too. Just don't forget about lunch for yourself. Even with my third I rarely ate lunch for the first few months.

Check out this website http://busycooks.about.com/od/makeaheadrecipes/Make_Ahead...
it has a lot of great ideas, recipes and short cuts.

you might try www.savingdinner.com they have some freezer menus that you can purchase... i have purchased several of them and (chicken, pork chops)and we have really liked them. It's fairly inexpensive in that the cost to download is like $2.95 or $3.95... it is only your meat portion of your meal though...but it may help...gives you a shopping list and everything. they also have other meal options.

So what I did was take the largest pot I have in the house (like for a mini army stock pot) and make a HUGEEEE batch of homeade spagethtti sauce. With all the stuff you like in it. Then make 2 batches of lasgna (cut into quarters and put in gallon ziplocs) and use then let the rest of the sauce cool down and put the sauce in quart size ziplocs. You can pull out the sauce to make homeage spagethtii. Also you can make stuffed shells and freeze in ziplocs as well. Also you can roaste a couple of chickens and cut them in half and ziploc. Pull out the food and there you go. Also pull out your slow cooker and get basics like chicken and tomato sauce cans and those Slow Cooker packet seasonings and you can make Italian Style Chicken in the slow cooker and pour over steamed white rice. If you want to make something fresh, get whole chickens and freeze them. When you want a rotiserre chicken, just let it thaw overnight and then clean it and pour on it chicken rub and put it in the roteserrie maker and you can have roasted chicken... it's really easy ( I love to cook)...

Probably not a good idea now that you are 37 weeks, but after you deliver I would recommend a dinner club or dinner by designs. My sister and I just did it, and we ended up with 8 meals, that are all tasty and can be placed in the oven when you get home from work. I think the cost is reasonable, considered if you have to buy all the ingredients and prepare the meals yourself. It was also a fun day out for us (a whole 1.5 hours away from the children and husbands), but nonetheless, just sister/adult conversations and doing something other than changing diapers. What is also a bonus is you don't have to clean up after preparing all these meals. That is half the battle in my house -- dirty kitchen. Best wishes on your upcoming delivery.

I'm sure you have already had your baby, but, I teach meal making classes where you leave with 4 freezer meals. This helps with new babies, too! If this would help you, please contact me.

D.

I don't have any recipes, I just wanted to give you kudos! When I was in my third trimester the LAST thing I wanted to do was cook. Let alone cook ahead. So, YAY for you!!! I admire your thoughtfullness! The only thing I can think of to make ahead of time is soups. You can freeze any soup. Congrats on your baby!

I'm also almost due, 36 weeks, and doing the same thing. Meatloaf freezes well and you can make a big batch that will give you leftovers for a few days. We just found in Kiwi magazine at my midwives' office today a recipe for mini pot pies made in egg roll wrappers. they looked really good and probably would freeze well. my husband loves to make soups and that's always an easy one to freeze. Chili too but if you are nursing, it may or may not bother the baby somewhat. I love the disposable glad tupperware for freezing food. Baked mostacolli is so easy to make and great with italian sausage. Have fun cooking and good luck with your delivery.

Just about everything freezes well.I freeze alot(I have a food saver ). Mostly leftovers and they all have turned out excellent. Soup, spaghetti, lasagna, chicken and dumplings (minus the dumplings, I add those after the meal has been reheated), mashed potatoes,pulled pork and taco meat. Make a large batch of sloppy joes and freeze them in a few different bags so you will have a few meals out of that. You can also cook ground meats and then freeze them so you can add them to your meals later and that will save you some time. Sorry I dont have any uncooked meals for you.